Anyone who’s ever watched Wonder Pets with their children in the past will know the chant that goes along with the phrase “What’s going to work? Teamwork!”.

Good teamwork is something that my parents instilled in me as a child. My parents, myself and my brother were a team. A small team who worked together. Our biggest success as a team was turning a large field into a family home in France. We worked hard every Easter and summer holiday and brick by brick it came together.

Of course there were problems along the way, setbacks, disappointments, compromises and the odd cross word, but ultimately, the fact the house exists today is testament to our little team.

Sometimes that meant I had to watch my little brother whilst our parents did something that needed both of them, sometimes I worked alongside my dad and then as my brother got older there was more and more that we did all together, sometimes involving our friends along the way.

Teamwork as a family is something I’ve tried instill in my children and they are just that, a great little team.

They understand for example that when they all work together to tidy their toys they can do it much quicker as a four compared to on their own, leaving more time for other things.

They understand that when they bake, their cakes turn out better when they’ve worked as a team, and helped each other along the way.

Sometimes they have two teams and they will work together in twos and sometimes we are a big team of six. This works well when there is something big to do, in the garden for example.

I feel very privileged to be part of our loving, supportive and fun little team and teamwork certainly pays off as the children learn how to cooperate. One of the things I’m always told about them is that they are very helpful children away from home, with school and playgroup friends for example, so these skills clearly transfer beyond the home as well, which is great to hear!

Are you part of a ‘team’?